UFC 158 Recap: Business as usual for Georges St-Pierre

UFC 158 is in the books from The Bell Centre in Montreal, and the main event has provided for us what many had easily expected. UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has retained his title by controlling the fight with a gameplan heavily based upon wrestling. Nick Diaz never got the range or effectiveness to implement his puncher’s chance, and the title chances will now rest upon tonight’s co-main event winner.

Which brings us to tonight’s best fight, a slobber knocker of an event featuring Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit. Hendricks used his vaunted, although to this date largely unneeded, wrestling to continually take down former interim titleholder Carlos Condit. Condit was game, and responded well with some great kickboxing of his own, but ultimately the power and top control of the #1 ranked Hendricks won out.

In other action, Jake ‘The Juggernaut’ Ellenberger made what may have been his biggest statement by knocking out Nate Marquardt with an emphatic victory. The only thing left to prove for the up-and-coming Omaha native may be a date with the winner of the GSP-Johny Hendricks bout that is soon to come.

All in all, UFC 158 showed us just how dominant the UFC welterweight division has become. From top to bottom, 170 lb. fighters have shown themselves to be quite the handful. Some may be disappointed with another controlling GSP win, while others may applaud the true future that the division holds. What are your thoughts of the event?

Finish of the Night: I’d have to say that Jake Ellenberger truly deserves it, knocking out a former contender to Anderson Silva’s vaunted title in the first. A welterweight title shot could be next in the cards for The Juggernaut.

Performance of the Night:Johny Hendricks is the man to win this award this evening. He responded so well to Carlos Condit’s never-say-die attitude, and the results left us with an incredible fight. GSP-Hendricks is set to be an epic event later this year.

While it may be predictable, GSP comes in a close second here. He faces a truly tough test next in number one contender Johny Hendricks.

Honorable Mention:Jordan Mein earns the nod here, finishing off a truly game opponent in Dan Miller here. The sky may be the limit for this young contender.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

Another beautiful finish by Georges Safe-Pierre.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Grapplure/ grapplure

gsp will get obliterated by anderson "the spider" silva.
this is why gsp is #3 p4p and silva is the king of mma

but much respect to gsp for keeping in control. his face looked worst than diaz cant wait to check out the fight metric .

ps. he should stop looking at the clock so much.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/D/ D

NO.

GSP will get obliterated by Johnny "Big Rig" Hendricks.

He got knocked down by Condit, and rocked by some 50% shots by Diaz in the 3rd round. Hendricks hits WAY harder than either of those guys.

GSP is not going to finish Hendricks. He will probably take him down at some point, but he will not hold him there for 20+ minutes in a 25 minute fight. Hendricks only needs one punch to KTFO GSP, and in 25 minutes, he is almost certain to land that punch.

GSP has defended his title for the last time. You heard it here first.

Oh, and the "superfight" with Silva? That will never happen.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

@mousasi: Silva/Georges will NEVER happen.

Actually, Maia will be the next WW champ.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

@mousasi I believe Hendricks is the biggest threat that GSP has had to his title but you can never predict someone like GSP getting obliterated. It's like it wasn't really realistic to think JDS would get smashed but when it happened it there was evidence he could get smashed.

There's nothing really to show GSP will get smashed, he might get stopped but saying that without a doubt GSP will get bombed on is too hard to forecast.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Evan-Holober/ Evan Holober

Keith/Mousasi- I don't see Hendricks doing anywhere close to as well as Diaz/Condit did against GSP on the ground. There game is built around grappling from the bottom.

I see a first or second round submission from GSP. Too much skill from GSP. Hendricks is going to take shots, then give up position, then get RNC'd.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Nemesis/ Nemesis

I can't believe people are dumb enough not to have any real wrestling skill against GSP, or basically no standup skill while having wrestling.

Like,what did you think was going to happen? I didn't watch the fight but to those who did i just asked "Oh, he just hugged him most of the time didn't he?"And they respond "Yea around 80% of the time"

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Azzkika/ azzkika

Aldo will get obliterated by Jon Jones. This is why Aldo is lower than Jones in p4p ratings.

Oh wait….. 28 sharps can't be thick as fook can they???

http://lowkickmma.com/members/AJY/ AJY

Thats a bit of a cheapshot, and I'm not a huge gsp fan. Diaz has got to be one of the hardest to finish in mma. The champ did what he had to do to win the fight, alot of time was spent on the feet too and gsp kept em at bay with the jabs. Where was Diaz's finish? he basically looked flat all fight, thats not gsp's fault.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

@underdog and Diaz did so much in attempt to finish GSP didn't he. GSP was smashing his face in while on his back, it's not Georges fault if Nick covered up and defended rather than being offensive back.
It's extremely hard to hurt someone who is 100% defensive on he ground.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

Yep, and Georges did everything in his power to finish the fight, right? Actually, Diaz, unlike Georges, did attempt to pull off a few subs.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

He half heatedly witched his hips and threw up his legs which resulted in nothing even remotely close.

If you think that's worth more than GSP picking him apart and smashing his head off the canvas… please don;t watch live and just fast-forward to the finishes the next day

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Azzkika/ azzkika

Another beautiful finish for Diaz also. Jeez this is getting old.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Highkick12/ highkick12

I was cheering for Hendricks until Condit came out to RAGE. Gotta be the best entrance band.
Then Condit ate all those left hands like a champ, he was pushing forward the whole fight and even did more when they were on the ground AND eventually got up from every single take down so Im not sure why he lost.
Either way that was the fight of the night for me.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Azzkika/ azzkika

I don't see how Condit lost that fight either. I thought he won 2 rounds clearly. He landed some great knees, when taken down he done more damage from the bottom than Hendricks did from top position so that cancelled out the takedowns at the very least and when standing he landed way more.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Azzkika/ azzkika

PS: I suspect the judges were under instruction that Hendricks GSP is up next so don't be a spoiler.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

It's safe to say that those judges were either blind or asleep during the Condit/Hendricks fight. Condit won that fight fair and square.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

Or maybe they were watching through unbiased eyes.

I was rooting for Condit but Johny got at least 8 huge takedowns as long as getting some nice strikes in.
Even Condit said in the post fight presser that he knew he lost but I guess you know better than him

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Dastardly_Dave/ Dastardly_Dave

He did nothing with the takedowns though,
I think if a takedown scores points for changing where the fight happens then getting back up (which Condit did pretty much every time instantly) should score equally. I only tuned in in round two but I saw Condit pushing the fight & Hendricks getting pushed back the entire time, with Condit not letting up even during the breaks/scrambles.
I'd certainly like to see the fightmetrics for this one.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Nemesis/ Nemesis

i agree, they have to score takedowns differently. Too many free looking wins based on this.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Highkick12/ highkick12

Ellenberger and Hendricks both deserve a shot against George so I really don't mind if he doesn't fight Anderson for a while. But I do hope he fights at least twice more this year since its only March.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Grapplure/ grapplure

@highkick

gsp doesn't deserve to fight the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

and hes had the opportunity plenty of times. he obviously doesn't want the fight

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Nemesis/ Nemesis

Yeah if you believe he's going to fight anderson your bridge is in the mail, i've lost count of how many years it's been but it's surely higher than 4.

GSP wastes no time in calling out anyone other than him the second he gets a decision.I wish he would just put it to bed and say no.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

As expected by everyone who has basic experience of watching MMA, GSP wins easily in dominant fashion. Diaz literally did nothing in the fight, he had about 40 seconds of decent offense of the 25 minute fight, Jake Shields actually was more successful.
If anything, I was kind of shocked that GSP got tired by as early as the third round, hopefully that was just a one-off and not that his conditioning is shortening with age.

Man… Johny Hendricks is a machine! Hendricks looked great in the fight, in every area. His wrestling was very sharp, he manhandled Carlos just as easy as GSP did.
It wasn't a blowout but he really impressed me, he could be the guy to beat GSP if he improves his cardio a bit.
Condit looked as good in defeat as you can. The NBK has to be the most exciting non-champ in the UFC, every fight is a crazy war and the fight goes everywhere. He'll be back from this close loss, he is still relatively young and still #3 at WW.

Ellenberger has some crazy punching power, a different kind from Hendricks but just as devastating. A couple of more big wins and he could be up there for the title too

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

Wasn't Georges Safe-Pierre the one who, once again, predicted a finish? Basic experience of watching MMA? Who are you kidding, bro?

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

No, he was the guy who said he would take the finish if he could get it.
You should know how tough Diaz is and therefore you should unerstand its acceptable GSP didn't finish him, neither did Condit who is an amazing finisher.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/UnderdogGreatness/ UnderdogGreatness

Everyone, including Diaz, can be finished at some point. Had Georges even attempted to finish Nick, I would have given him his props.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Pound4pound/ pound4pound

I agree that is getting old that George does not try to finish fights. However Nick knew GSP style from the very beginning, so he shouldn't complain about getting outwrestle, I thought it was brilliant the way that GSP kept switching sides on the ground to avoid Diaz JJ, the stand up was determined by GSP because Nick could not let his hands go because of the take downs, I thought in the 3rd round GSP got rocked bad but then again went for the take down to avoid Diaz boxing, overall I could sit here and complain about GSP looking shiny and spitting water on himself and how Diaz legs kept sliding on GSP's back but Diaz knew allone this in advantage, the fight was good IMO and GSP won, he is still one of my favorites fighters.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Evan-Holober/ Evan Holober

Diaz spit water on his legs and feet before the fight also.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Pound4pound/ pound4pound

Really, I did not notice, like I said I am not complaining, GSP did his thing and won.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Evan-Holober/ Evan Holober

Yep, plenty of fighters do that these days. They spit it at the ground to get traction, but "miss" and get some on their legs.

GSP does the air spitting thing through every fight. I'm starting to think its from fear though. He really looked nervous walking it there.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Dekciw/ dekciw

haters gonna hate
GSP got tired because of Diaz scrumbling with him for two rounds, if you have basic experience of fighting with sb who's good in grappling for two rounds you would know.
What catch me about GSP was how strong he is

Hendricks gonna loose with Rush with ease. He won with Condit only because of takedowns, well…. it's not gonna work with GSP. What I loved about how he mangandled Carlos was the third round. How the hell this guy gonna fight championship rounds with GSP???

http://lowkickmma.com/members/KeithFarrell/ KeithFarrell

So funny watching the haters, now that Diaz was soundly beaten which they guaranteed would not happen, make excuses up for him and now once again guarantee Hendricks will in.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/InfiniteEnigma/ InfiniteEnigma

Hendrix will KO St Pierre easily. He will nullify GSP's wrestling, and hit GSP, and when he does, GSP cannot take a shot like Condit does, GSP will go down, and flail in to oblivion. Glad GSP beat a disrespectful douchebag in Diaz, but his day of LnP is over. Hendrix, the new WW champ. !!!

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Brian-Cox/ Brian Cox

As a GSP fan, I'm getting tired of the same-old fight. I was really hoping to see something new from Rush last night, but I didn't. In particular, I was hoping to see a finish. However and once again, that outcome eluded The Champ.

Six decisions in a row and counting, with Hendricks up to bat. Should GSP beat Hendricks, look for him to do so, by extending his decision streak. Negatives or criticisms aside, at least The 170 Champ defends his belt with frequency. Taking that into consideration, my guess would be that we'll see GSP / Hendricks (roughly) around the same time we see Silva / Weidman.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Evan-Holober/ Evan Holober

A lot of people are now saying Hendricks. Why? Because he's shown as good of defense on the ground as nick and Carlos?

http://lowkickmma.com/members/InfiniteEnigma/ InfiniteEnigma

If Diaz had connected at the end of Rd. 1 with that after the bell punch ( sore loser ) what would happen ? Point deduction ? I'm sorry, I got no respect for that punk.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/GianGiacommo-G/ GianGiacommo G

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Rindy/ Rindy

Cry me a river GSP haters but hendricks is a threat he has good wrestling and great power. a weak chin for GSP but still GO GSP

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Brian-Cox/ Brian Cox

@ Rindy

Everyone makes a big deal of GSP's chin being weak or questionable, but I'm not sure why. Most of it seems to revolve around his loss to Matt Serra, but when Serra clipped GSP, he did so behind ear. He didn't hit him on the chin. To me, GSP's chin seems fine.

Go GSP!

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Entity/ Entity

As I stated in the Staff prediction thread, I thought GSP would win, but hoped for Diaz. Cant say Im surprised by the out come or surprised at how immature most people are at this site with "hater this, hater that" "I told you so blah blah" Even the staff here is getting pathetic and attacking others (you know who you are) Glad Ive got better things to do most of the time.

http://lowkickmma.com/members/Pride4Ever/ Pride4Ever

Condit and Hendricks was a great fight! one of the best so far in 2012
GSP made me sleepy.